Mohamed Salah has new injury return date in sight as he looks to prove biggest Liverpool point

Mohamed Salah will know he faces a race against time to be fit to return to AFCON after suffering a hamstring injury, but that won’t stop him from trying.

The Liverpool forward has faced widespread criticism in his homeland for returning to Merseyside for treatment rather than staying with the Egypt national side. But with his injury worse than first feared, club, country, and player all decided it was the best decision as the Pharaohs booked their place in the Africa Cu of Nations round-of-16.

“Yesterday I started the treatment and rehabilitation program,” Salah wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, following his return to England. “And I will do everything possible to be ready as soon as possible and return to the national team as was agreed upon from the beginning... I also love it and its people... try harder.”

Earlier in the week, the Egyptian’s agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, had confirmed that his client would be sidelined for 21-28 days. Having suffered his hamstring injury on January 18, such a timescale leaves him a doubt to be fit for the AFCON final. If Egypt, who drew all three group games, even get there.

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Should the Pharaohs avoid elimination from the tournament without him, then Salah will perhaps be targeting an early return after 20 days in the semi-finals on February 7. If that is not possible, he will hope to be back available for a potential final appearance on February 11.

If Egypt end up competing in the third-place play-off instead on February 10, a decision would need to be made regarding whether they still expect him to